


but yet I'll pause; for I am loath to break our country's laws

by prettiewittie



Category: 14th Century CE RPF, Richard II - Shakespeare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Challenge Response, Edmund is trying his best, Gen, Hal is adorable, Henry is an idiot, Histories Ficathon XI, Richard is tired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:27:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28095393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettiewittie/pseuds/prettiewittie
Summary: "There were times - many times - when Edmund missed his brother Lionel."The Duke of York is fed up of his nephews (or at least two of them) arguing, so he takes matters into his own hands. But unlike Henry of Lancaster his way doesn't involve treason...technically.
Relationships: Anne of Bohemia Queen of England/Richard II of England, Anne of Bohemia Queen of England/Richard II of England/Robert de Vere Duke of Ireland, Henry IV of England & Richard II of England, Richard II & Edmund of Langley, Richard II of England/Robert de Vere Duke of Ireland
Comments: 6
Kudos: 7
Collections: Histories Ficathon XI





	but yet I'll pause; for I am loath to break our country's laws

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheMalhamBird](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMalhamBird/gifts).



> This was...very difficult but like in a good way. I've been writing my masters dissertation for the last seven months and honestly writing anything apart from that feels very weird.
> 
> I tried my best! I hope that this matches up to expectations!

There were times - many times - when Edmund missed his brother Lionel. Lionel had been a good knight, a good man and he had been a good intermediary between the Black Prince and the late Duke of Lancaster. 

As the second son of the late King Edward, Lionel had been made the duke of Clarence and unlike John he had been happy with the title. If Leo hadn’t died when they were all so young, Ed was sure that he would have been a better aid to their nephew Dicon - better at honouring Edward’s memory. At the very least, Lionel would have been in England when the idiot Earl of Arundel, their brother Thom and John’s disgruntled son had tried to usurp the throne from the king instead of being in Spain trying to claim his own crown and killing half his soldiers with dysentery or in a fruitless, futile battle.

If Lionel had been here, now or before, Edmund was sure that it wouldn’t have come to this. 

He’d had his men arrest Henry - the new duke of Lancaster - as soon as he’d step foot on the London docks. He’d also arrested the former Archbishop Arundel - but unlike Henry the Archbishop had been sent straight to the Tower. Edmund had had Henry sent to Leeds Castle. Hopefully that would shake any treasonous thoughts out of his idiot nephew’s head, being in his father’s former residence. 

How could Henry risk his own sons like this? Hal was currently in Ireland with the king after all! And Dicon had been nothing but kind to the Lancaster children ever since their father was exiled. Would Henry really risk his heir being held hostage against him? Although Edmund did know that ever since the death of Mary de Bohun there had been tensions between the new duke and his eldest son, if anything that explained why Hal and Richard had been getting on so well. 

Speaking of the King, he was on his way back to the capital now. The queen - sweet little Isabelle - was safe with her ladies in Portchester. Edmund had decided that the ladies would be happier outside the capital whilst he dealt with his nephews. Anything to avoid the loss of another of Richard’s friends. His reigning nephew had already lost Robert de Vere and his first wife, to lose anyone else - especially Hal or Isabelle - could be catastrophic for England.

* * *

Richard felt awfully melancholic as he rode up to Leeds Castle. He remembered visiting here before...everything that happened. Sneaking in with his uncle Lancaster’s help (one of the rare times that he and Lancaster had agreed on something) and meeting his wife...his Anne. She’d had a cold, he smiled to himself at the memory of her ruby nose and she had been so scared yet curious about England and he’d felt almost guilty that she’d have to spend Christmas with John. 

She was gone now. Waiting for him with his Robin and if it wasn’t for his certainty that God had a plan for him he would be longing to join them. But he had Isabelle, his little queen (even if the marriage wasn’t consummated in all truths but she was still his wife) to protect...but Henry...part of him wondered if he and Henry the new duke of Lancaster would ever be able to agree.

“Your Grace?” That was Hal. The boy was pale faced and wide-eyed as they came up to the gatehouse. He was scared, and as much as the boy looked like his mother Richard was suddenly reminded of how Harry of Derby (his cousin and childhood friend) had looked in the Tower during Wat Tyler’s rebellion, “Will my father be executed?”

“...We hope that it will not come to that young Hal,” Which was the truth, “But your father and myself have a long, complicated history.” 

“I gathered,” Hal sounded as dry as their aunt Eleanor (and thinking of her made Richard sorrowful and slightly afraid), “but he is still my father.” 

Richard smiled gently at that and squeezed his cousin’s shoulder. Richard did not want war - he never had - but whenever it came to him and Henry they always ended up at opposite extremes.

* * *

Edmund took a deep breath as the King walked up to him with a smile on his face.

“Your Grace.” He bowed deeply to Richard as he passed him and walked into the warmth of the castle. An old memory sprung to the front of Edmund’s mind at it, of the young Richard leaning against his mother’s skirts in front of the hearth, his blond curls looking like fire, like the red hair of his kingly namesake. It had not been long since the widowed Princess of Wales and the new heir to the throne (and didn’t it pain him to remember how people had been questioning Richard’s rights to his father’s inheritance even then) had arrived in England and his nephew had not immediately taken to the weather in England. 

“My lord of York.” Hal bowed and grinned up at him toothily, as if not understanding the tension in the room or as if he was stubbornly ignoring it. 

“Lord Hal,” Edmund responded in a mock serious manner. The boy (so often the image of his mother) now reminded him of his brothers in their youth - of Lionel. “Why don’t you follow my son Ned to where your rooms for the foreseeable future will be?” 

Hal hesitated, looking at Richard. It was easy to tell that the boy wanted to see his father, but did not want to offend the king. That caution and sense would see him far in life, Edmund thought wryly, maybe he could teach his father some of it. 

“You shall see your father in the morning, my dear Hal.” Richard smiles wanly, “We’ve had a hard journey from Ireland and you need your rest.” 

Cheered by the idea, Hal bowed to them all and hurried away after Ned - _Aumrele_ now and a duke in his own right (and hadn't Richard learnt his lesson the first time?)

As soon as the young earl was out of earshot, Richard turned to Edmund. 

“Where is he? I wish to speak with my cousin.” 

Edmund merely bowed quickly and led Richard away from the entrance. He blessed the saints that the king did not know where the dungeons of Leeds Castle were - Edmund had been hesitant to poke around in the old residence of his older brother, a residence where he had been living with his last duchess. 

* * *

He should have known, he honestly should have realised. 

Richard hadn’t expected to see Henry so soon - and he definitely hadn’t imagined that his cousin would be sat in a chair reading a book. 

Henry jumped to his feet, book dropping to the for. There was no kneeling to his king though, no bowing or possibly even no manners. It was frustrating but also something that Richard had begun to expect from his cousin. 

“Now,” their uncle Edmund looked between the pair of them, “the both of you are going to stay in this room and come to an accord.”

At their immediate protesting well...the duke did not quite roll his eyes but Richard was sure that it was a close thing. 

“I know that talking is difficult for the pair of you but as your uncle,” he held a finger up as Henry tried to speak, “as you _oldest surviving uncle_ I believe that this way will be more beneficial to the kingdom than either of you taking up arms against the other!”

The silence which followed that statement proved how true it really was. 

“Just remember that neither of you are too old to go over my knee!” The corner of their uncle’s mouth flickered upwards at Henry’s flustered protest at the idea, “I will see you both come morning.” 

The duke left. Richard huffed at the sound of the door locking and pointedly sat in a chair closest to the wall. 

“What?” He asked crossly when he caught Henry looking at him from across the room in such a peevish manner that for a moment Richard had believed he was Gaunt come back from the dead. 

“You have no respect for our family.” 

“I have no respect! That’s a laugh! You have no respect for me and I am your _king-_ ”

* * *

“Father…” Ned flinched at the raised voices from behind the door, “Are you quite sure that this is the best course of action?” 

Edmund had to admit - what they could hear did not sound promising.

“Trust me Ned, they both need the chance to talk without anyone interfering. Not Arundel, not Mowbary...not even us.” He looked at his son firmly, “They are not to be disturbed.” 

Whilst Ned did nod in understanding, Edmund knew that he didn’t agree. It was written prominently over his face in a way that reminded Edmund of another Ned from long ago. 

“I would not worry so badly - neither of them have weapons. They will live to see to see the next dawn.”

* * *

“You had our uncle  _ murdered! _ Gloucester was a good and honourable man-”

“A good and honourable man? You say that as if he didn’t try to usurp me and would have had me killed in the exact same way if it weren’t for your father!” Richard laughed cynically, “People wonder why I should not trust you when you continuously throw your lot in with the likes of Arundel and his brother.” 

Henry paled dramatically, but when he went to defend himself his mouth could only flap uselessly. Richard couldn’t help but smirk. He wasn’t as foolish as Henry liked to believe and he knew that Thomas Arundel would not allow him to live for very long if the former Archbishop of Canterbury coming back with his disgruntled cousin meant anything. Henry wasn’t finished though.

“You have no right to deny me my father’s lands simply because you don’t like me!” He pointed accusingly, his pointing finger like a sword.

“So I should give one of the most powerful dukedoms in the kingdom to someone who tried to have me controlled like a puppet purely because we are family?”

“You are a child-”

I am the  _ king of England! _ ” Richard roared, standing to use his greater height to his advantage, “And because I refused to allow our uncle control over my decisions I am suddenly an unstable child who is too easily swayed.” 

And ugly beast danced around in his chest as he raged and it crowed when Henry took a step backwards. Richard looked down on his cousin. 

“You have no idea how it is to be king cousin, to have no one as your equal.” He turned away, “To be completely alone. And if you do find someone, they are either taken by God’s choice or chased away by your ene...by your opponents.”

He could see, from the corner of his eye, the sagging of Henry’s shoulders. It was then that Richard remembered the death of Mary de Bohun. Feeling uncomfortably guilty, he looked around the room and frowned. 

“This looks similar to the room where I met Anne for the first time.” He commented. 

“You first met Anne in London.” Henry sounded confused.  Richard smiled despite himself. 

“Your father allowed me to come to Leeds secretly, and we met in privacy - which was nicer than having to meet for the first time in the middle of court.” 

There was a moment of silence. 

“I don’t have a clear memory of meeting Mary...but no doubt my father was there watching over us all.” Henry sounded quite sarcastic at the overbearing nature of his father and yet his words on Mary were obviously something that he held close to his heart and it was a revelation to Richard - Henry had never been the most open about his emotions. 

“They were friends, remember? Anne adored Mary and your children.” Wished that those boys - Hal and Thom - were hers (theirs) in small, quiet moments. Henry smiled softly at that and the silence turns to one of fond remembrance. 

“I am tired, cousin, of all this.” Richard sighed, sitting down again, “We will talk, until dawn, and maybe we will come to an accord like our uncle wishes.” 

Henry regarded him cooly.

“I will be the duke of Lancaster?” 

“One day cousin, who can truly know the future.”

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like this sort of became a 'Hal is so cute' fic for a short while.
> 
> Lionel of Antwerp was the second oldest surviving son of Edward III and queen Philippa. He died at around 28 and it's through his daughter (also called Philippa) that the Yorkist claim to the throne came from during the War of the Roses. There isn't all that much on Lionel (that I could find) so his personality is made up for this fic, Edmund is just irritated and thinking about his long dead brother through rose-tinted glasses. 
> 
> The references to Richard and Anne meeting at Leeds Castle come from shreds_and_patches' novelthing (which I had permission for) and I think that it's sweet. 
> 
> Richard is a bit of a dick in his inner monologue, but then Henry is probably thinking the exact same thing.
> 
> Am I 100% thrilled at how this turned out? Not entirely, but I think that I'm at the beginning of a burnout so I'm taking what I can get. Maybe one day I'll come back and edit this.


End file.
